One goal enough for a Miner win over #7 Drury

Nick Landon

Just over a year ago, the Miners entered a game with Drury while holding the lead in the Great Lakes Valley Conference -- but fell out of first place after a loss to the Panthers.

UMR turned the tables on Drury Friday night, getting an early goal from Nick Landon and holding on for a 1-0 victory at the UMR Soccer Field. The win, which ended the Miners' three-game losing streak, dropped the seventh-ranked Panthers from the top spot in the GLVC standings to third place.

After a sluggish stretch to open the game, the Miners got a corner kick and were able to convert it into the only goal of the contest. Brandon Moore's serve was headed across the goal crease by Landon and off a Drury defender who was trying to save it from going into the net at the 12:48 mark.

From there, the MIner defense had the charge of holding off the Panthers' repeated forays down the field. Drury outshot UMR 13-9 in the game and had a 9-5 edge in the second half, but Mike McNamee - with help from the defense - made five saves to record the shutout. Drury (8-2-3 overall, 5-2-1 Great Lakes Valley Conference) did have two shots go off the crossbar in the second half.

UMR (5-6 overall, 3-3 GLVC) will head to Kansas City Sunday for a noon contest against Rockhurst (6-5-1, 5-3 GLVC), the team that ended its season last year in the GLVC Tournament. The Hawks dropped a 1-0 decision at home Friday to Missouri-St. Louis.